Top 100 Players of 2025, Nos. 10-1: Eagles RB Saquon Barkley soars to top spot

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Surtain tops all defensive backs ranked in this year’s Top 100 after a coming-of-age 2024 season that culminated with the Defensive Player of the Year award. Opposing quarterbacks were wary to throw Surtain’s way thanks to his sticky coverage. It prevented the the 25-year-old from filling the stat sheet, but in-depth numbers show that he did not allow 50 or more receiving yards in any game, according to Next Gen Stats. That’s especially eye-opening considering Surtain is assigned to each opposing team’s top target, which included       Ja’Marr Chase       ,       Mike Evans       ,       DK Metcalf       ,       Garrett Wilson       and      Jerry Jeudy       in 2024. Surtain highlighted his career-best season in a Week 5 victory over the Raiders, returning one of his two interceptions for a 100-yard touchdown. With Surtain’s presence enveloping half the field, the Broncos defense generated a league-high 63.0 sacks in 2024 and led Denver toward its first postseason appearance in a decade.

NFL Pro Insight for Surtain II: Patrick Surtain II was targeted on just 10.9% of his coverage snaps in 2024, the lowest rate among 83 cornerbacks with at least 300 coverage snaps. He gave up only 306 receiving yards as the nearest defender across 516 coverage snaps, translating to 0.6 yards per coverage snap, the second-fewest among cornerbacks.

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